Zionist Conspiracy

Part of the Global Plot to Expose Moonbats, conspiracy nuts, and anti-Semites, especially the Jewish anti-Semitic variety.
The leftwing Neo-Nazi web magazine Counterpunch has described Plaut thus: "One of the most pernicious writers is Steven Plaut, a man who could be thought of as Israel's Daniel Pipes."

Monday, February 28, 2011

The Just and Logical Solution to the Libyan Crisis - restore it to its Proper Rulers!

The Solution for Libya is to Restore its Proper Rulers!!By Steven Plaut

The world is wringing its hands over the fate of Libya. It isseeking a peaceful logical solution to the regime that will governLibya in the post-Kaddafi era.

Being a helpful sort of guy, and what with Purim coming up fast, Iknow just the proper and just solution. I would like to place on theinternational table the obvious, most logical, and most justifiedsolution to the question of Libyan governance. Control of Libyashould be returned at once to the natural and rightful owners ofLibya, the people who controlled it before it was invaded and occupiedby the Arab military hordes.

Libya should be returned to the Jews.

Why the Jews? Well, because the Jews controlled Libya not onlybefore the Kaddafi era but even before the country was seizedmilitarily and illegally occupied by the Arabs. Libya was governed bya Jewish Berber queen known to history as Kahina. Really.

Let's put Libya's history in order to see who the proper rulersof the land really are. Before the birth of Mohammed, back when therewere no Arabs at all in North Africa and the Arabs were confined tothe Arabian peninsula, Libya and its surroundings were home toByzantine occupiers and to indigenous Berber tribes. The latter werethe true natives of the area. The Romans called them Berbers, fromwhich they derived the derogatory adjective "barbarian," but theBerbers called themselves Imazighen, possibly meaning "free people" or"free and noble men." Libya was Berber long before the Egyptians andtheir slaves built any pyraminds. Cathaginians conquered the area andwere evicted by other conquerers, as were the Vandal tribes and theByzantines. But the natives consisted of Berbers.

And Jews. The Jews had entered the area probably first duringthe period of the Second Temple, and Berber-Jewish ties werestrengthened during the revolt against the Romans in the Land ofIsrael that ended with the destruction of the Temple. The NorthAfrican Jews mixed with and influenced local Berber tribes. TheFrench historian Marcel Simon claims that Tripoli, the same Tripoli inwhich Muammar Kaddafi pranced about and suppressed his own people, wasunder the rule of Jewish Berbers as early as the first century of thecommon era.

By the time the Arab imperialist armies entered Libya after thedeath of Mohammed, Berbers in Libya and North Africa belonged toChristian tribes (usually heretical heterodox Christians), pagantribes, and at least one large Jewish tribe. And the Jewish tribe wasled by a woman! No glass ceilings for her! She did not need anyReform rabbis to lecture her about egalitarianism in Judaism!

While known in most histories as the Kahina (from the root wordCohen for priestess), her actual name is given variously as Dahiyah,Dahia, or Dhabba. Her tribe was known as the Jerawa, based in theAures Mountains in eastern Algeria and Tunisia, and whose controlextended into Libya. And she was a warrior queen. The historianCharles-Andre Julien, in his History of North Africa, calls her theBerber Deborah. And her most dramatic victories were over the Arabimperialist invaders. She decided to resist the illegal occupation ofher homeland by the Arab colonialists and to drive out the Arabsettlers with force. She drove the first wave of Arab invaders out ofLibya altogether, although they later returned.

After the Arab general Hassan ibn al Numan took Carthage from theByzantines, the Kahina's forces defeated him on the battlefield. Shewas later defeated by him. Most Berber tribes were later Islamized,although retained their penchant for embracing theological heterodoxyeven as Muslims.

The Kahina is not a figment of Jewish imagination like some Golemof Prague. The greatest Arab historian of all time, the medieval IbnKhaldun, writes at length about her military campaigns. The greathistorian Edward Gibbon, author of the classic history of Rome,mentions her. She was a figure of fascination for the great Americanwriter Washington Irving, better known for his tales of Rip van Winkleand Ichabod Crane. I have always wondered whether his familiaritywith beheadings in Arab society inspired his headless horseman in theLegend of Sleepy Hollow.

Here is a segment of Irving's history of the Kahina:

'After repeated battles, the emir Hossan was compelled to retire withhis veteran but diminished army to the frontiers of Egypt. The patriotqueen was not satisfied with this partial success. Calling a councilof war of the leaders and principal warriors of the different hordes:"This retreat of the enemy," said she, "is but temporary; they willreturn in greater force. What is it that attracts to our land theseArab spoilers? The wealth of our cities; the treasures of silver andgold digged from the bowels of the earth; the fruits of our gardensand orchards; the produce of our fields. Let us demolish our cities;return these accursed treasures to the earth; fell our fruit-trees;lay waste our fields, and spread a barrier of desolation between usand the country of these robbers!"'The words of the royal prophetess were received with fanaticenthusiasm by her barbarian troops; the greater part of whom,collected from the mountains and from distant parts, had little sharein the property to be sacrificed. Walled towns were forthwithdismantled; majestic edifices tumbled into ruins; groves offruit-trees were hewn down, and the whole country from Tangiers toTripoli was converted from a populous and fertile region into ahowling and barren waste. A short time was sufficient to effect adesolation, which centuries have not sufficed to remedy.'

So back when Muammar Kaddafi's ancestors were chasing camelsaround what is now Saudi Arabia, Jewish roots were well entrenched inLibya. So would not the most logical resolution of the currentpolitical crisis in Libya be to restore it to its proper Jewishrulers?

If the Arabs are thought to be entitled to 22 different states,why should the Jews not have at least two – one in the Land of Israeland one in Libya. Jewish high-tech know-how in agriculture would haveLibya turned into a rain forest within a decade. In fact, since Purimis coming and I am feeling in a good mood, I would even be willing toagree that part of Libya be used for solving the "Palestinianproblem." All the Palestinians can be moved to the southern part ofLibya near the Chad border and they can even set up their own statethere. Maybe even two states, one for the Hamas and one for the PLO!They can have a cut of the Libyan oil revenue if they behavethemselves there.

If a brief period of Arab rule over the Land of Israel is thoughtto convey some sort of legitimate claim to parts of Israel for Arabs,why should the Jewish rule in Libya, older than the Arab conquest of"Palestine," not similarly confer natural rights of sovereignty?

The peace plan is simple. The illegal Arab colonial occupation ofLibya must be ended! The illegal settlements must be removed. Thelegitimate Jewish rulers of Libya must be restored to power. And nowis the right time to do so, by Dahia!

A Call for the Arrest of the Editorial Staff at Haaretz

1. I hereby call on Shai Nitzan, the Deputy Prosecutor in Israel, toarrest and indict the entire editorial staff of Haaretz immediately.This is the same Nitzan who has been arresting and investigating everyRabbi he can find who has ever had a nice word to say about thatRabbinic tract "Darchei Hamelekh," a book that discusses rules ofwarfare. This is the same Nitzan who ordered a University of Haifaprofessor to come in to the police to be interrogated about what hesays in class. This is the same Nitzan who runs an "enhancedenforcement" policy designed openly to discriminate and harassRight-wingers. Well, now I demand that Nitzan arrest Haaretz writerNeri Livneh.

In this article, Comrade Livneh demands that Orthodox Jews beprevented from moving into the Haifa neighborhood of Neve Shaanan. Anarea where they do not belong (in the opinion of Livneh, who grew upin that neighborhood). Moreover, Livneh accuses the Orthodox ofthreatening to trigger Arab-Jewish violence in Haifa, a city in whichArab-Jewish relations have generally been cordial. Finally, Livnehkeeps dubbing Orthodox Jews the "Jewish Brotherhood," equivalent tothe Moslem Brotherhood. So in Livneh's opinion, a Jew who puts ontefillin is the equivalent to the gangs of stormtroopers obeyingMuammar Khaddafi and his "green revolution" as they shoot down theLibyan opposition.

Such comments are a hundred times more bigoted and "inciting" thananything any of the Rabbis interrogated by Nitzan ever said. Rabbisand others who suggest that Jews not rent property in predominantlyJewish neighborhoods to Arabs have been interrogated by Nitzan'sInquisition. So why should Haaretz not be interrogated for an articlethat demands that Orthodox Jews be prevented from living in a Haifaneighborhood? And especially for the following racist incitement inthat article:"Jews and Arabs still get along in Haifa. But if the ultra-Orthodoxare taking over the city, the good relations between Jews and Arabsmay also be at risk. Instead of worrying about the Muslim Brotherhoodin the Arab states, we should start fearing the Jewish Brotherhoodthat is about to take over, and start acting accordingly."

5. Hebrew U calls on Attorney General to Indict Professor ofSociology Eyal Ben-Ari, the professor accused by his students ofraping them and the fellow who invented the idea and supervised thethesis claiming that the lack of rape of Arab women by Jews provesthat Jews are racists:http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=210067

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Mad-Dog-philia

1. Current events quiz!!

Question: What will be the NEXT oppressive Arab state in which apopular uprising or protest will emerge?

Answer: France

2. Probably the most amusing part of the Libyan uprising has beenwatching Israeli Arab "leaders" scrambling to disassociate themselvesfrom Mad-Dog Muammar. It is amusing because almost every single Arabin the Knesset and almost every Arab politician from Israel has madepilgrimage to the Great Brother Muammar, embraced him in Green Squarewhile waving his green flags, cheered him and defended him, whiledemanding that Khaddafi attack Israel and help annihilate it. Infact, if there was one person in the world who personified even betterthan Osama bin Laden the ambitions and ideas of Israeli Arab leaders,it was no doubt Khaddafi the Elder (although they seemed fond of hisunctuous son as well). Call it Mad-Dog-philia.

Knesset Member terrorist Ahmed Tibi is but one example of aMuammar-phile. Stalinist Muhammed Barakat is another (as was hisStalinist Jewish poodle Dov Chanin). Stalinism, like love, means younever have to say you are sorry. Haneen Zoabi, the woman terroristKnesset Member from the Galilee who was part of the "Flotilla"terrorist entourage sent by Turkey on the ship to brutalize Israelisoldiers armed with paint guns, was also one. She went to Libya thispast spring. Suddenly this week all these people are running aboutdemanding that the media report their fundamental disgust at Khaddafiand his regime, and the fact that they always disapproved of Libya'sfascist dictator.

But the most delicious part of all of this is the editorial publishedin Haaretz, that Palestinian newspaper published in Hebrew, from April30, 2010. It came out right after some rightwing Knesset Membersdenounced Zoabi and her friends for making pilgrimage to Khaddafi andLibya. Since there is nothing so pleasant as rubbing a leftist's nosein his own droppings, here are some quotes from that Haaretzeditorial:

"The parliamentary Right has been seized by hysteria over the visit byArab Knesset Members and Arab public figures in Libya. The rhetoricalattacks by parties of the Israeli Right, The National Union and theJewish Home, the two of whom could easily merge and rename themselvesthe Racist Home, sounded as if we were talking about acts of treasonwithout precedence. (AS IF!!!! --- SP)

"Actually this was a historic opportunity to rule out once and for allthe parliamentary immunity and rights of supposed anti-Israel membersof parliament who disgrace the country, or so said Knesset MemberMichael Ben-Ari. A proposal by Knesset Member Zvulon Orlev demandedthat those who pay visits to enemy countries be treated, no less, asif they are participating in armed struggle against Israel.

"But Libya is not on the list of our enemy countries. (!!!!!! - SP) And so the Arab Knesset Members were in no need of special permissionto go there. Libya had signed the Arab peace initiative (huh??? --SP), is the current Chair of the Arab League, and its head of state,Muammar Khaddafi, maintains excellent relations with the Americanadministration.

"So it is hard to say what the racist clique in the Knesset are moreafraid of – the danger that Arab Knesset Members could launch an armedstruggle against Israel with Khaddafi's help or that they could serveas a bridge for conciliation, recognition and acceptance of Israel byLibya.

"The state of Israel is not exactly crawling with good relationshipswith Arab regimes, even with Egypt and Jordan, which signed peaceagreements, how much less so with Libya, which sees Israel as anenemy. Therefore ANY invitation to Libya of Arab Israelirepresentatives, especially those serving officially in Israeliinstitutions (Haaretz does not mean as prisoners – SP) must be seen asthe opening of a new window of opportunity, or at the very least as anexpression of curiosity about the Israeli experience.

"Travel to Libya or to any other Arab country is an inseparable partof the culture and ethnicity of Israeli Arabs, and reflects theirdesire to communicate their own understandings and interpretations ofthe Israeli Experience, even if it is not the one forged in theIsraeli Right.

"Instead of tarring and feathering the Arab Knesset Members, Israelwould be much better off including them in the design of policy andencouraging them to forge ties and bridges with Arab states. In sodoing Israel will at least succeed in demonstrating its commitment tomaking peace with its own Arab population."

Maybe we should correct the above current events quiz. Maybe the nextfascist Islamist regime that needs to be toppled is the editorialstaff at Haaretz.

When Glenn Beck says that Reform Judaism is like radical Islam,insofar as both are more about politics than faith, he's being unfairto radical Islam.

Yes, both are deeply involved with politics and confuse their ownpolitics with God's.

But radical Islamists seems to be much more serious about their religion.

Reform rabbis often lead congregations whose overall culture isindifferent to Shabbat and kashrut, indifferent to daily prayer andintermarriage, and indifferent to religious literacy.A radical Islamic leader, by contrast, is passionate and conscientiousabout prayer, the Islamic Sabbath, Halal food, and Islamic familypurity. He would not be indifferent to intermarriage or classicalIslamic teachings.Only a Reform rabbi would officiate at an intermarriage on Shabbatitself, as did Rabbi James Ponet at Chelsea Clinton's wedding. ARadical Islamist wouldn't do that.Not even the Ten Commandments are as important to a Reform rabbi asintermarriage. The integrity of Shabbat (Commandment Four) wasconsidered so meaningless that the ceremony couldn't even wait untilsunset. With a Reform rabbi, officiating for Clinton, a politicalfigure, was more important than Shabbat, faith.A radical Islamist would not have violated the Koran to perform anintermarriage for a king.It's hard to imagine a Reform rabbi who didn't frequently takepolitical positions. Among their political positions is that weshouldn't be Islamophobic; we should know that jihad is a spiritualstruggle, not a violent one; that imams are moderates until provenotherwise, that we shouldn't tar Islam because of extremists who areviolating Islam. So Reform rabbis themselves say Islam, even radicalIslam (is there any other) is a religion of peace, a religion offaith.It's had to imagine a Reform rabbi who isn't infatuated with the greatReform legends of fighting for Darfur, being part of the (imaginary)black-Jewish alliance, advocating for gay and transgender rights,hating Bush and Sarah Palin, cheering Obama's pressure on Israel, allof which these Reform rabbis will attribute to their faith but it suresounds like politics.Reform rabbis love "dialogue," the idea that all problems in the world-- between religions and between nations -- are just a bigmisunderstanding because we're all basically the same and want thesame things.Radical Islamists don't give a damn about dialogue. They don't thinkall religions or all people, infidels included, are the same, becauseradical Islamists take their own faith that much more seriously.Reform rabbis are "troubled" that settlers live in Canaan, that ArielSharon walked on the Temple Mount, that Moses, a Jew, useddisproportionate force in killing an Egyptian. Hebron is not loved forits holiness, as faith would have it, but thought an obstacle topeace, as politics would have it.Radical Islamists have faith that the Temple Mount is theirs, and theWestern Wall, too. They have faith that they are Abraham's childrenand belong anywhere in Canaan. Radical Islamists don't care thatMoses, an Egyptian, killed an Egyptian. Hebron is loved for itsholiness, as faith would have it, not something to be negotiated, aspolitics would have it.Radical Islamic leaders don't go around saying that religion justmeans being ethical and good and voting for Democrats, the way mostReform rabbis do. Radical Islam believe that faith demands personalservice to God, not just service to each other.Radical Islamic leaders don't define their faith so singularly withone political party, as do most Reform rabbis, who seem to believethat Judaism never, ever, says no to liberal dogma. Their ReformJewish faith, to hear so many tell it. is indistinguishable from theirReform Jewish poliitics. To many Reform leaders, the left can disagreewith the Torah but the Torah can never disagree with the left. When inconflict, the Torah must adapt.To a radical Islamist, whose faith comes before politics, the Korandoesn't adapt, everything adapts to the Koran.Radical Islamists seem to have more fire in the belly when it comes totheir faith.Reform rabbis seem to have more fire in the belly when it comes totheir "progressive" politics.So Beck is absolutely wrong. Radical Islamists and Reform rabbis arepolar opposites when it comes to balancing faith and politics.There are many Reform Jews that I love and greatly admire. These aremy people. I'd rather be the worst Reform Jew than the very bestIslamist. And I wish that Reform rabbis were, in fact, more aboutfaith than about politics.Dennis Prager, the talk-show host and author, is a Reform Jew whoactually talks more about the importance of faith and religion than hetalks about politics. Debbie Friedman, another great Reform Jew, wasunique in how she restored the idea of blessing and God to the Reformsensibility. There are other Reform Jews like Prager and Friedman whoprioritize faith over politics, but I don't get that sense from toomany Reform rabbis.I despise, fear and fight radical Islamic politics but I love and envytheir devotion to their faith. I love how even in the midst of theCairo revolution, they stopped to prostrate themselves in prayer. Whenwas the last time you saw Reform Jews at a political demonstrationstop to say Mincha? And by the hundreds?Here's some more on Beck, on related issues, from the ZionistOrganization of America, from BigJournalism.com regarding the JewishFund For Justice's anti-Beck campaign, and from David Suissa, anexciting columnist for the Jewish Journal in L.A.How many people who have opinions on Beck have actually seen him inaction? Check out this clip of Beck speaking about Israel, threats toJews, and attacking Iran.Beck's a better man than George Soros, and he's a better Jew, too. Ifsomething bad, God forbid, ever happened to Israel, I'm convinced itwould bother Beck more. One guy cares about me and the two countries Ilove. One guy doesn't.I don't like it when someone who cares about us so much is hated, islaughed at, because his caring is imperfect.

2. Notice the two "rabbis" participating in the "I am a Muslim" Rallycoming up for NY City

6. I already posted this but am posting it again. Fiddler on theRoof is a play about Jewish powerlessness in an impoverished czaristRussian village. In the following clip, you can see the Israeli armyband performing in Red Square to the applause of the locals. The bandis not very good (Israeli military music is to music as Israelimilitary intelligence is to intelligence.) Nevertheless, here wehave the Israeli army band playing songs from Fiddler, as well asothers, in Red Square. You will not be able to watch it with dryeyes! If you have not seen it already, open it!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahVhpiMHm7s&feature=player_embedded

Hebrew University Leftist Prof Suspended for Molesting Students - had been author of the infamous "Lack of Rape proves Racism" Thesis

Same professor supervised the thesis that claimed that the absence ofrape of Arabs by Jewish soldiers proves Jews are racists

Why was Ben-Ari not suspended for rape?

Many years too late, the Hebrew University finally got around tosuspending far-leftist anti-Israel Professor of Sociology EyalBen-Ari. He was the supervisor of that famous MA thesis that "proved"that the reason that no Arab women are raped by Jewish soldiers isthat the Jews are such racists. Ben-Ari had been accused of numerouswomen graduate students of raping them and molesting them. I guess hewas just proving that he was not a rapist. In any case, he has now,at long last, been suspended, but for "inappropriate relations," andnot for rape. Why not? Inappropriate relations sounds like a romancewith a goat.

Hebrew U. professor suspended for inappropriate relations with students

Ben-Ari was also determined to have improperly agreed to advise afemale doctoral student despite the fact that they were known to havebeen involved in a close relationship.

By Asaf Shtull-TrauringEyal Ben-Ari, a professor of sociology and anthropology at HebrewUniversity in Jerusalem, has been suspended for two years without payafter a disciplinary panel ruled that he had engaged in inappropriaterelations with three female students who were under his tutelage.The panel ruled that Ben-Ari had exploited his position of authorityto engage in intimate relations, including offering to share a hotelroom with a student when they were both abroad for an academicfunction.Ben-Ari was also determined to have improperly agreed to advise afemale doctoral student despite the fact that they were known to havebeen involved in a close relationship. Such conduct "was unbecoming ofa faculty member," the panel said.The verdict comes three years after allegations first surfacedalleging that Ben-Ari had extorted sexual favors from female studentsover a number of years. However, he was not convicted of sexualharassment.Ben-Ari will not be permitted to begin his sabbatical within the nexttwo years. In addition, he will not be allowed to receive researchfunds or to operate research budgets.The disciplinary panel also ruled that Ben-Ari will continue toreceive his salary until the end of the current academic year and toadvise doctoral students.In July 2008, police launched an investigation against Ben-Ari afterthe university received anonymous complaints from a number ofstudents. Prosecutors did not file an indictment against Ben-Ari dueto lack of evidence and an expired statute of limitations.Two years ago, the university conducted its own disciplinary review,during which some of the complainants came forward to give statements.The transgressions for which Ben-Ari was convicted took place between1996 and 2003."The disciplinary panel determined that Prof. Ben-Ari's actions aregrave and they inflicted significant harm to students and the HebrewUniversity," the university said in a statement.Ben-Ari's attorneys released a statement in which they stated thattheir client was vindicated."After a long, drawn-out disciplinary process, Prof. Eyal Ben-Ari wasultimately acquitted of most of the actions of which he was accused,including all allegations of sexual harassment," they wrote. "Themonstrous image which others tried to pin on him and which was fueledby lies has been blown to smithereens. The disciplinary panel itselfacknowledged the suffering that was caused to Professor Ben-Ari as aresult of the baseless accusations against him."

2. You probably heard that Beer Sheba was hit yesterday by Gradrockets fired by our peace partners in Gaza. As usual, Israel willrespond by turning the other cheek and hoping to wait out the Hamasuntil it runs out of ammunition. You will all be relieved to hear thatthe rockets did NOT strike the homes of Neve Gordon, Oren Yiftachel orDavid Newman.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Israeli Arab Leader Arrested for Arson

1. Remember how the leftist Moonbatocracy in Israel was screamingabout all those allegations of arson by Arabs being behind the massivefires in Israel this past fall? And how they were nothing more thanJewish paranoia and, of course, Jewish anti-Arab "racism?" Leftistsin Israel these days cannot complete a sentence without inserting theword racism into it, and often without inserting the word fascism. Itis part of the growing fascism within the Israeli Left itself.

Well, Heavens to Murgatroyd, look at what has just been revealed aboutthose forest arsons:

Islamist Leader Arrested for Forest Fire ArsonAdar 18, 5771, 22 February 11 06:15by Maayana Miskin(Israelnationalnews.com) The leader of a major Muslim movement inIsrael is suspected of setting fire to a forest less than three monthsafter the worst fire in modern Israeli history. Sheikh Ra'ad Salah,head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, has been arrestedin connection to an arson attack in southern Israel.

Salah allegedly set fire to a Eucalyptus forest in southern Israel.The attack was allegedly in protest of a Jewish National Fund projectin the area.

The Jewish National Fund is working to forest parts of the Negev, aplan opposed by some Bedouin residents of the region. Residents of theillegal town of El-Araqib in particular have condemned the project outof concern that it will use land that they hope to use in the futureto house Arabs "returning" to Israel from the rest of the Arab world.

Salah was arrested while driving on Highway 1, between Jerusalem andTel Aviv,, and was subsequently questioned by officers in the police'sminority affairs bureau.

He was released from jail just two months ago after serving fivemonths for attacking a police officer. Upon release he told hissupporters, "Someday we will celebrate the end of the Israeloccupation of Jerusalem and Al-Aksa [the Temple Mount – ed.]. We willcontinue with all our activities, without fear, until we reach thatgoal."

The arson attempt in the south came just weeks after the Carmel fire,a massive forest fire in northern Israel that killed 44 people. Duringthe Carmel fire an Arab arson offensive led to firefighters beingcalled away from the main blaze to battle smaller fires.

Despite the offensive, the Knesset voted down a bill to impose amandatory minimum sentence on arsonists.

[Sheikh Salah is the same bloke who appeared at the University ofHaifa a couple of years back in a lecture hall from which theuniversity officials prevented Jews from entering. Salah there calledon Arab students to become suicide bombers. Unlike some Rabbis whopraised a rabbinic treatise on the Halakhic rules of warfare, Salahhas never been investigated of prosecuted for "racism." Inpost-survivalist Israel, Islamofascist terrorists can never beracists.]

2. Prof. Gerald Steinberg on Transparency and Leftist Whininghttp://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/transparency-for-ngos-is-not-anti-democratic-1.345164Transparency for NGOs is not anti-democraticWith the adoption of regulation for reporting of foreign governmentfunds, the door is open to expanding transparency for private foreignfunding for Israeli groups across the political spectrum.By Gerald M. SteinbergThe Knesset legislation that mandates reporting of foreign governmentfunding for non-governmental organizations is not anti-democratic, asclaimed by vocal critics, mainly the recipients of the foreignlargesse.Indeed, as wide support in the Knesset showed, including from Laborand Kadima MKs, this law mandating transparency is designed to fix agaping hole in Israeli democracy. This bill is very different from thedraconian and partisan effort to use the Knesset to investigate onlyleft-wing groups.In recent years, European governments have provided an estimated 100million euros in taxpayer funds annually to a very narrow group ofIsraeli, Palestinian and European political advocacy organizations.When these groups sponsor quasi-academic conferences, newspaperadvertising campaigns and public rallies heralding sweepingallegations of Israeli wrongdoing, the public has the right to knowthat the money was provided by a foreign government.This transparency is an elementary requirement for the informed debatethat is essential to the democratic process. While all externalfunding for Israeli civil society, across the political spectrum,should be public knowledge, large foreign government transfers arevery different in principle from private donations.All governments have interests and use power to pursue those goals.When officials from Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, and anotherdozen nations use their "soft power" to fund dozens of Israeli groups,such as Breaking the Silence, Yesh Din, and the Public CommitteeAgainst Torture in Israeli, whose officials travel the world declaringthat Israel is a nation of war criminals, these groups are alsopromoting the interests of their sponsors. ‏(In contrast, the U.S. government generally does not fund Israelipolitical advocacy NGOs, and the few exceptions, such as theill-advised attempt to use the "Geneva Initiative" organization, endedquickly.‏)In election after election, the governments chosen by Israeli votershave differed with European positions. However, by massively fundingopposition NGOs, many of which claim to promote human rights‏(although they do this selectively‏), Europe tries to interfere withand manipulate the legitimate outcome of Israeli elections.In fact, some NGO officials are simply rejected politicians, who,after failing to get Knesset positions, have used foreign funds toexert power they could not obtain otherwise. A heavy shroud of secrecysurrounds the budgets of these Israeli political groups.In most European nations, the details are more tightly held thanmilitary plans, and no parliamentary hearings are held to discuss thelegitimacy, wisdom or implications of such funding. The decisionmaking processes are also completely non-transparent, leaving open thepossibility that these policies are made in violation of due processof law, as was recently uncovered in the case of Canadian NGO funding.In theory, Israeli NGOs should be covered by the existing reportingrequirements for non-profits, but in practice, many political advocacygroups have found ways to avoid such transparency by registering underdifferent frameworks, or avoiding any Israeli oversight mechanism.The new legislation, which is based on the U.S. Foreign AgentsRegistration Act, is designed to prevent these exceptions, and topromote the public's right to know who and what forces are behindpowerful political campaigns that take place outside, and often indirect opposition to, the electoral process.Had the NGO recipients endorsed this transparency legislation, insteadof falsely denouncing it as anti-democratic, the proposedinvestigations aimed only at one side of the political spectrum ‏(andmisdirected at alleged Arab government funding‏) would not have beenintroduced.With the adoption of regulation for reporting of foreign governmentfunds, the door is open to expanding transparency for private foreignfunding for Israeli groups across the political spectrum.The writer is president of NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based researchinstitution that tracks NGOs, particularly in the Middle East.This story is by: Gerald M. Steinberg

4. You will be happy to hear that the Im Tirtzu student organizationthis week picketed the Tel Aviv University classrooms in whichultra-bimbo Rachel Giora was to lecture and handed out leaflets tostudents revealing to them Giora's involvement in anti-Israelseditious activities and her many calls for world boycotts of Israel.The TAU moonbats are wetting themselves over this in hysteria.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Ottolenghi on The Great Myth of Palestinian Statehood

• 1. OPINION EUROPE – Wall St Journal• FEBRUARY 22, 2011The Great Myth of Palestinian StatehoodArabs' revolutionary awakening belies Western conventional wisdom inthe Middle East.By EMANUELE OTTOLENGHISince Sept. 11, 2001, American neoconservatives have forcefully arguedthat the combination of economic stagnation, rapid demographic growth,lack of upward social mobility, and political repression in most Arabcountries was a breeding ground for Islamic radicalism. Their "freedomagenda"—which George W. Bush embraced during his first term butlargely relinquished after 2006—rejected the conventional wisdom thatthe Arab rage that brought down the Twin Towers was a child ofIsrael's occupation; that the Islamist wave sweeping the Muslim worldfed on the humiliation of the Palestinians; and that the growingradicalism infecting Muslim immigrant communities in the West was madein Israel.This narrative informed the heretofore accepted view that the onlyalternatives to repression in the Middle East were civil war andfailed states, or the rise of Islamic theocracies. That the status quowas unjust, that the regimes were corrupt, and that their rulers werecruel, were unpleasant but necessary facts of life.The Arab world's unpalatable regimes would nonetheless help the Westmidwife the solution to the region's ills: a Palestinian state that,by restoring Palestinian justice and dignity, would miraculouslyneutralize extremism.So when the European Union's foreign-relations chief, CatherineAshton, spoke in Cairo last year, she only mentioned freedomonce—Palestinian freedom from Israel. This, even as the regimeshosting her at the Arab League's headquarters were busy silencing andtorturing their own citizenry.Europe has always had a vast array of political tools and economicleverage to push its Arab allies to introduce reforms, liberalizetheir media, unblock civil society, improve governance, and tamecorruption. But the Middle East's tyrants warned every Europeanvisitor that doing so would open the floodgates to radical Islam.Algeria, with the bloodbath that followed the Islamists' electoralvictory in 1992 and the subsequent military takeover, gave credence totheir arguments. Foreign ministry mandarins advised their bosses tobelieve the tyrants: Solve Palestine, they whispered, and everythingelse will follow.And so they did, doggedly pursuing Palestinian-Israeli peace, andfuriously blaming Israel at every twist and turn not just for the lackof peace but also for every other regional problem.Now, the Arabs' revolutionary awakening should force the standardbearers of Western conventional wisdom to finally abandon thismindset. Unfortunately, the lesson is still not sinking in. Speakingin Israel this month, former U.S. National U.S. Security AdviserGeneral James L. Jones identified progress on Israeli-Palestinianpeace as "the one thing that could have the local, regional and globalimpact that is now a matter of urgent necessity." He added that"continued Arab-Israeli dispute strengthens and amplifies the appealof [Iran's] message to the oppressed and those who feel that they haveno future."British Foreign Secretary William Hague also chimed in by dismissingIsrael's concerns about the stability of its peace treaty with Egyptin the wake of Hosni Mubarak's ousting. Reminding the world of the oldCamel Corps wisdom, he said "This should not be a time for belligerentlanguage. It's a time to inject greater urgency into the Middle Eastpeace process."Lost in all this is the simple fact that the ordinary Arabs who roseagainst their regimes didn't do so because they wanted to freePalestine, but because they wanted to free themselves. Westernmandarins always assumed that Palestinian freedom was all that theArab world needed, and in the process they resigned themselves to theregion's rampant corruption, repression, and persecution of women andminorities. Yet Mohammad Bouazizi didn't set himself on fire inDecember, thereby triggering Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution, to expresssolidarity with Palestinians. Instead, his suicide was a directresponse to the economic and social strictures in his own country.Meanwhile, his countrymen's spontaneous reaction to that desperate actstood in sharp contrast to the customary Arab displays of solidaritywith Palestinians—usually staged, regime-backed affairs.So suddenly, Arab freedom has taken precedence over Israel andPalestine—or so says the much-maligned Arab Street, as it topples onetyrant and challenges the next. The conventional wisdom that thePalestinian-Israeli conflict is the mother of all problems in theregion has now been exposed as nothing but a myth. Will Westernleaders finally learn?Mr. Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense ofDemocracies and author of "Iran: The Looming Crisis," (Profile Books,2010)

Bibi Peresyahu

1. Back in the 1990s I invented the term, "Bibi Peresyahu" to referto the prime Ministership of Bibi Netanyahu back then. At the time,Netanyahu was trying to outdo the Israeli Labor Party and Shimon Peresin pursuing the Oslo "peace process." Netanyahu made concessions evenPeres had refused to make, like turning Hebron over to the savages.He signed the "Wye Accord," after which I dubbed him the Wye's Man ofChelm. In domestic matters he refused to do anything serious tobreak up the bank cartel or reform the capital market. His mainconcern was to be liked by the Israeli leftist media, and that concerncaused him to shift to the Left. The same concern later led ArielSharon by the nose to the Left and to the capitulation to the Hamas inGaza.

Well, Bibi Peresyahu is back. He keeps freezing Jewish building inJerusalem and its surroundings. A few days ago he announced hisbacking for a series of anti-economic populist policy measures favoredby the ultra-Left, like raising the minimum wage and subsidizing waterconsumption. And yesterday Mr. Peresyahu came out AGAINST anyparliamentary investigation of leftwing seditious anti-Israel NGOsoperating in Israel. When asked why he is suddenly against this verypopular proposal he had earlier supported, Netanyahu without blinkingreplied, "But what will the goyim (nations) say." Really. Nevermind that the nations have lots of similar laws operating in their owncountries for NGOs receiving foreign funding. In the US, any groupgetting foreign funding has to register as a lobbyist for a foreignentity.

Maybe Bibi can attend the J Street conference so that the Left willlike him more?

2. The "J" in "J Street" seems to stand for "Jihad"

"J Street" is an anti-Israel lobbying group set up to demonize Israel. It is a major group in the Anti-Israel Lobby. It loves to whineabout being persecuted by conservative or Zionist "McCarthyists,"whose sin is that they dare to criticize it. "J Street" is funded byGeorge Soros (although long tried to hide this fact) and others whohope it will neutralize the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC. "J Street"activists include many of the same people who are promoting boycottsand "divestment" sanctions against Israel. It portends to bepro-Israel, although its idea of what is pro-Israel is for Israel tobe coerced into capitulating to all the demands of the Hamas, theHezbollah, and other anti-Israel terrorist groups.

In a few days, "J Street" plans to hold a large "conference" inWashington, DC. They are calling it "Give Voice to your Values." (Getit? The Zionists do not let critics of Israel have a voice!) It isto host a hodgepodge of anti-Semites, jihadists, Jewish anti-Semites,and many others from the axis of evil, that alliance of the Far Leftwith Islamofascism.

Let us note that it has been revealed that a contingent of the ShimonPeres Center will be attending. This means that the "Center" – run byIsrael's President Shimon Peres himself – will be attending officiallyan anti-Israel "conference." That is right – the sitting President ofIsrael is sending his people to participate in a conference whoseraison d'etre is bashing Israel. Quite a few Kadima part hacks arealso attending.

The Jewish Speakers at the "J Street" Rally:

By and large, the Jewish spakers are all leftists and are more radicaland more anti-Israel than are the Moslems speaking there. There areso many of the former that we will not make thumbnail sketches of themall. They are a mix of anti-Israel American Jews, anti-IsraelIsraelis, and even a few European anti-Israel Jewish leftists. Manyof the Jews are active in the malicious "BDS" (Boycot, Divestment,Sanctions) movement, designed to serve as an economic aggression andassault against Israel. Many are simply anti-Israel students at UScolleges. Some are leaders in tiny Jewish splinter activist groups.A few are pseudo-rabbis. Many are people of whom no one in the Jewishcommunity has ever heard.

Here are just a few of the more outstanding Jewish speakers:

* Eric Alterman, obsessive Israel Basher and semi-Marxist whosediatribes run in "The Nation."

* Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun, a magazine whose prsecription forhealing the world is a mixture of Marxism and LSD. Lerner may be theworld's most notorious rabbi pretender (he has no rabbinicordination). He and his magazine are rigidly anti-Israel andincreasingly pro-Hamas. Lerner demanded that Americans "feel thepain" of al-Qaeda after the 9-11 attacks.

* Naomi Chazan, president of the far-leftist "New Israel Fund.,"which finances almost all the leftist groups in Israel that produceanti-Israel propaganda, especially the smears adopted by the UN's"Goldstone Commission." Chazan's face with a rhino horn sticking outof it was placed on billboards by Israel's main Zionist studentorganization as protest against the NIF's anti-Israel activities.

* Michael Sfard, leftwing anti-Israel extremist lawyer who works forthe "Association for Civil Rights in Israel," a group that has neverheard of any civil right of Jews that needs defending, nor of any Arabatrocity that needs condemnation. ACRI is anti-democratic and refusesto defend freedom of speech for non-Leftists. Sfard may be best knownfor his quote: "I am ashamed as an Israeli" (cited athttp://www.thestar.com/news/article/912702--palestinian-doctor-sues-israel)* Oded Na'aman, head of the seditious "Breaking the Silence" group inIsrael, which has been exposed for repeatedly inventing fictional"crimes" by Israel and Israeli soldiers, "crimes" that have turned outnever to have existed. The best expose of his groups is theNGO-Monitor Report entitled, "Breaking WHAT Silence."* Daniel Sokatch, long-time Israel basher and now CEO of the NewIsrael Fund. In the past he was the organizer of anti-Israelpropaganda festivals in the Bay Area.* David Saperstein – perhaps the leading pseudo-Jewish liberation"theologian" for North America, a man who believes that all of 5000years of Judaism can be boiled down to the endorsements of this week'spolitical correctness fads. He has been praised by the AmericanCommunist Party. His wife, Ellen Weiss, runs the anti-Israel "Allthings considered" show on NPR.* Jessica Montell – executive director of the pro-terror anti-Israelpropaganda lobby B'Tselem, exposed in detail by NGO-Monitor. Famousfor its one-sided anti-Israel reports and creative work withstatistics to paint Israel as a demonic entity.* Edina Lekovic - Director of Policy and Programming, Muslim PublicAffairs Council, pro-jihad pro-terror lobby group.* Congressman Steven Cohen from Tennessee, best known for his vilebile-filled diatribes against American conservatives, whom heregularly compares with Nazi leaders.* David Chemla; Director, JCall France, a tiny leftist Bash-Israellobby group in France.* Bernard Avishai, an Israel-bashing tenured extremist from Israel,dedicating his career to stripping Israel of its capital city.* Laura Wharton – a member of the Jerusalem City council from thesemi-Marxist Meretz party. Hardly a major player, and included inthis list simply because I have personally crossed swords with her.On a chat list of Israeli social science professors (she has a PhD inpolitical "science") she accused me of covering up the fact that theultra-Orthodox fringe in Israel is (in her opinion) more violent andanti-Israel than are Palestinians, and that the ultra-Orthodox wouldassault violently (she opined) anyone passing through theirneighborhoods with an Israeli flag. I responded to her on the listthat I would be willing to make a wager with her. I would walk aroundultra-Orthodox neighborhoods for an hour with an Israeli flag and noskullcap, and she would march about Jenin or Nablus in the West Bankwith an Israeli flag, and whoever was not murdered or violentlyattacked would receive $10,000 from the other person. I am stillwaiting for her to reply to my challenge. It is now three yearslater! Yes, she too will be spinning her "theories" for the "JStreet" conference!

Why Didn't NYU Cut Nir Rosen Loose a Long Time Ago?Alana Goodman 02.16.2011 - 3:55 PMIt took a Twitter joke about Lara Logan's sexual assault in Egypt tofinally push NYU's Center for Law and Security to revoke Nir Rosen'sfellowship today. The question is, what took so long?As Jeffrey Goldberg reports at the Atlantic, Rosen has been makingdisturbing and violent comments on Twitter for quite awhile. Ofcourse, the difference was that these remarks took aim at politicallycorrect targets — America and Israel — while his Tweet mocking Logan'ssexual assault was decidedly un-PC.Much of Rosen's most vitriol appears to be focused on Israel, and hisTweets run the gamut from unvarnished hatred of the Jewish state tooutright anti-Semitism:Many of his tweets are given over to expressions of hatred of Israel,and wishes for its destruction. He openly advocates for violenceagainst Israel: "Yes to a 3rd Intifada. This time hopefully with thesupport of the Palestinians citizens of 'Israel,'" and he states that"Israel's existence is a blight unto the nations." …The creepiest tweet of Rosen's is this one, I think, from December3rd, 2010: "On Hannuka, Just think, if only the Greeks had been betterat counterinsurgency we wouldn't have these problems today. Where wasPetraeus?" The meaning of this is fairly obvious: Hannukah marks thedefeat of a Syrian-Greek empire by a Jewish insurgency. If the Greekshad won, the Jews would have been slaughtered. He also wrote that sameday, "genocide is modern concept (except when jews (sic) are doing iton god's orders in the old testament) greeks were just hellenizing."Based on the content of Rosen's Tweets, the statement from NYU on hisresignation couldn't have been more tone-deaf:"Nir Rosen is always provocative, but he crossed the line with hiscomments about Lara Logan. I am deeply distressed by what he wroteabout Ms. Logan and strongly denounce his comments," said Karen J.Greenberg, the executive director of NYU's Center for Law andSecurity.So publicly wishing that the Jewish people had been exterminatedthousands of years ago so that "we wouldn't have these problems today"doesn't cross a line? Calling for a third intifada and the violentdestruction of the Jewish state doesn't cross a line? Apparently, NYUbelieves that's just being "provocative."The university stayed silent as Rosen repeatedly glorified violenceagainst the Jewish people. And the sad truth is that if not for hiscelebration of the sexual assault of a journalist, he would still havehis job to

4. Tel Aviv University graduate student Omar Barghouti runs theanti-Semitic Pacbi.org group that leads the economic aggressionagainst Israel, promoting boycotts of Israel and Israeli institutions,including of course Tel Aviv University. He was due to visit the USthis coming April to promote his malicious "book" – "Boycott,Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights."

5. Well it looks like Khaddafi has fled his sinking rat-infestedship, and there are conflicting reports as to his whereabouts. Sincehe seems hard up for a nice holiday rental, I wanted to suggest weoffer him his own private room with bath in Gitmo. Water(boarding)bills on the house.

As the world celebrates, let us also bear in mind the mindlesscowardice of the UK and the US in appeasing Khaddafi for so manyyears. I refer to their willingness to pretend that they did not knowthat he was behind the Lockerbie atrocity. And then Britain releasedthe jailed terrorist responsible for that bombing as a "goodwillgesture." And the US normalized relations with Khaddafi with noretaliation for Lockerbie. Meanwhile, Haaretz dragged out today thatlong-ago-debunked urban legend about how supposedly Khaddafi'sdaughter was killed when the US bombed Libya after Libyan agentsmurdered US servicemen in Germany. Add that to the al-Dura hoax.Come to think of it, there is room in Gitmo for some Haaretz editorsas well.

* Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, whose daughters were killed in the crossfirewhen Gaza terrorists opened fire, inlcuding with RPGs and missiles, atIsraeli troops. See this. He sued Israel for returning fire atterrorists when his daughters were killed. He did not sue the Hamas.

* Imam Yahya Hendi, a chaplain at Georgetown University, is theclosest thing around to a moderate Moslem. He has spoken out againstterrorism. Just how that makes him a bona fide lobbyist for thisradical group funded by George Soros is unclear. (A true moderatewould refuse to attend!)

* Mustafa Barghouti, anti-Israel "activist," arrested by Israelseveral times for involvement in terrorism, leader in the BoycottIsrael movement

* Amjad Atallah, legal advisor to Chief PLO Terrorist Mahmud Abbas,propagandist and apologist for the Hamas – see this, in which hefalsely claims Hamas accepts the existence of Israel.

* Nadia Bilbassy Charters, "journalist" for the pro-jihad Al-Arabiyanews service

The Libyan Riots spread to Israel’s Leftist NGOS!

1. The Libyan Riots spread to Israel's Leftist NGOS!

Well, I am not exactly Shania Twain, but I am singing "Man I feellike a Woman" this morning!

All is not calm and tranquil in the leftist fever swamps ofIsrael. It seems that Libya is not the only place in which there is amass revolt against the entrenched jihad! The same thing is happeningin the ultra-leftist Israeli Jewish NGO named "New Profile." And thereporter Lara Logan, who was sexually assaulted by the mobs in Egypt(http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/16/3139988.htm ), is notthe only victim of sexual assault by the depraved jihadists.

The same thing happened in "New Profile."

"New Profile" is an anti-Israel communist-front activist group, nodoubt funded by the usual sources, claiming to be a feminist group,and specializing in trying to get Israeli soldiers to refuse to servein the Israeli military.

The backwaters of the Israeli radical Left have been buzzing foryears about cases of alleged rape of women by the extremist YitzhakLaor, a regular columnist at Haaretz and a one-time lecturer at TelAviv University. Laor also claims to be a poet. I confess I am notfamiliar with his ouvre but I understand he may be the true originatorof the poem that begins, "Here I sit, broken-hearted, paid my dime…."

Laor has been accused by several women of raping and/or sexuallyharassing them. At least one submitted a formal complaint to thepolice for rape. Like in the case of the Hebrew University professorof sociology accused by numerous women students of raping them, thepolice have been dragging their feet. Leftwing rapists are just notvery high up on their agenda, in contrast with a rabbi accused ofgroping male students, who now is facing prosecution. Haaretz for itspart is embracing its inner bitch and so is not reporting the Laorstory at all. In fact poet Laor has a column this very morning inHaaretz bashing Israel. Laor is protected by the Haaretz Post-Zionistglass ceiling.

Actually, leftwing rapists and sexual predators are fairly commonin Israel! The Director of "Zochrot," another ultra-left seditiousNGO in Israel that seeks to change all Israeli place names to Arabicnames (like the Western Wall), has also been accused of sexualharassment. The Director, Eitan Bornstein, allegedly made lude sexualcomments towards women who work for "Zochrot." The members of NewProfile and Zochrot are essentially the same people. A leftwing actornamed Hanan Goldblatt has also been convicted of rape, and just hadhis sentence adjusted a few days ago.

Now I am as proud as the next feminist of the women who havedecided to upset the leftwing apple cart and denounce the malechauvinist pigs in question. I am proud to tell you that some of thefeminists in "New Profile" went on a rampage, not only against Laorbut also against Bornstein. Curiously, they are led by Bilha Golan,who is so rabidly anti-Israel that I suspect that if she had notburned all her bras years ago she might have filled them withexplosives and taken them on to a bus (she is a regular on theanti-Semitic "ALEF" chat list: seehttp://isracampus.org.il/ALEF%20Watch.htm ). The activist anti-rapistwomen from "New Profile" however are being ostracized by other "NewProfile" fair-weather Barbie-doll pseudo-feminists suffering from theQueen Bee syndrome, who insist that there must be no enemies on theLeft, and that all leftists must be automatically backed and defended– no matter what! After all, claim these chicks, the highest goal offeminism must be Israel's obliteration.

'Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein warned on Sunday that establishingparliamentary panels of inquiry to probe left-wing organizations couldviolate fundamental human rights.'In the state's response to a petition challenging the establishmentof such panels, he wrote: "It is impossible to ignore the chillingeffect of such investigative panels, should they be established, onfundamental rights such as freedom of expression, freedom ofconscience, and freedom of association." '

Only one itsy bitsy problem in this. This is the VERY SAME bloke whois investigating, arresting, and indicting rabbis for saying things hefinds "racist" or even for their praising a book that he considers"racist." Will those who praise "Huckleberry Finn" be next on hislist?

So his concern for fundamental freedoms of speech is highly selective! This is the same Attorney General who has done nothing at all torein in the leftist Inquisitor of the Israeli Prosecutor's office,Shai Nitzan. And while we are at it, even if we were to assume thatthe comments by the rabbis in question were racist, which they werenot, since when is it illegal in a democracy to make racist comments? If it were, 93% of Americans would be in prison. Making racistcomments in a democracy can get you punched in the nose but notindicted and jailed!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Grand "End of Conflict Proclamation" Delusion

For the past twenty years the quest for a Middle East peace and forresolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict has rested largely upon onespecific strategy. We'll call it the "End of Conflict Proclamation."

The key to ending hostilities, so goes the theory, and theformula for bringing about an acceptance of Israel by the Arab andMuslim world, is this: Israel must strike a deal with the Palestiniansthat will result in the Palestinian leadership proclaiming theconflict has ended.

Israel would need to buy such a proclamation from those claiming tospeak in the name of the Palestinians. But the "purchase" would resultin the Palestinians declaring that, as far as they were concerned,there was no longer any basis for conflict with the Jews.

Once they proclaimed they no longer had any residual grievances orclaims against Israel, this proclamation of the End of Conflictbetween Israel and the Palestinians would neutralize anti-Israelhostility among Arabs and Muslims. Peace would be achieved.

According to the plan, such a proclamation would de-fang even theworst Islamists and Arab fascist regimes. True, believers in thisfantasy concede, the Arab regimes have never really cared very muchabout the welfare of Palestinian Arabs. But that will not matter oncethe End of Conflict Proclamation is issued. Arab regimes and non-ArabMuslim regimes like Iran and their clients would be forced by the ruleof logic to end their own belligerence toward Israel.

Since their anti-Zionism had always been founded upon the supposedmistreatment of Palestinians by Israelis and the alleged denial ofPalestinian rights by the Jews, the moment the Palestinian leadershipitself declared that Palestinian expectations had been satisfied, therug would be pulled out from under the feet of those other regimes inthe most dramatic way. Those regimes could not logically continue towar against Israel in the name of the Palestinians once thePalestinians themselves proclaimed themselves satisfied.

Belief in the prospect of buying such an End of Conflict Proclamationhas dominated Israeli policy ever since the early 1990s. It has beenthe driving force guiding the thinking of all Israeli governmentssince then, including those of the Likud and the so-called right. Theimmediate policy implication of the fantasy is that it is thought tobe ultimately in Israel's interests to "pay" for such a proclamationin the currency of concessions. This is true even when "payment"consists of granting to the Palestinians things no reasonable personcould think they deserve.

The End of Conflict Proclamation was regarded as so important that itmade no sense to quibble about its price, just as long as that pricewas something less than the total annihilation of Israel. Therationale for making concessions was that it was all part of thepursuit of Israeli self-interest. Even granting to the Palestiniansconcessions to which they clearly were not entitled would pay offbecause it would induce them to cooperate in the ultimate gesture toend the entire war - the Grand Proclamation.

Getting to the proclamation was the strategy pursued by the entireIsraeli political spectrum, except perhaps for the far left, which haslong demanded endless Israeli concessions not as a way to buy an Endof Conflict Proclamation but as a means of weakening Israel, period.If a Palestinian conflict-ending proclamation ever became a feasibleoption, Israel's radical left, led by the country's tenured academicextremists, would protest against it.

* * * * *

The distance to which Israeli governments have been willing to go tobarter for the enticing promise of a proclamation has been nothingshort of mind boggling. Successive Israeli governments, including thecurrent one led by Benjamin Netanyahu, have agreed to the creation ofa Palestinian state in territories west of the Jordan river.

Perhaps more amazingly, they have agreed to acknowledge the existenceof a Palestinian people - one entitled to self-determination, to ahomeland, to political independence, and even to armed securityforces.

I emphasize this point because I doubt there are any serious people inIsrael, even on the left, who believe the Palestinians are a peopleaccording to any historical standard. Certainly the Palestiniansthemselves, rhetoric notwithstanding, have never considered themselvesto be a people. Palestinians are Arabs, part of the Arab nation thatalready controls 22 sovereign political entities spread over aterritory nearly twice that of the United States.

The Arabs of Palestine are no more a separate and distinct people thanare the Arabs of Detroit or of Marseilles.

Palestinian "nationalists" themselves concede the point. In aninterview several years ago on Israeli television, Azmi Bashara, atthe time a Knesset member but now in hiding because he is wanted byIsrael for espionage and treason, said:

I don't think there is a Palestinian nation. I think there is an Arabnation. I think that this [the term "Palestinian nation"] is acolonial invention. Palestine, up to the end of the 19th century wassouthern Syria.

The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinianstateis only a means for continuing our struggle against the state ofIsraelfor our Arabunity. In reality today there is no differencebetween Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only forpolitical and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existenceof a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that weposit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to opposeZionism. For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state withdefined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifaand Jaffa, while as aPalestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem.However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we willnot wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.

But Israeli political leaders were so enthralled at the prospect ofsettling the conflict with a dramatic End of Conflict Resolution thatthey were willing to accept the historicity of a distinct Palestinianpeople. For if none existed, how could the Palestinians play the rolethat had been assigned to them and proclaim the end to the conflict?

The prospect of ending the conflict was so important that no onewanted to let any scruples about pretense stand in the way. If theGrand Proclamation could be obtained by means of Israel's declaringthat space aliens in flying saucers had landed on the roof of theKnesset, Israeli leaders would have been only too happy to comply.

The acknowledgement of the existence of such a Palestinian nation wasnot kept by Israeli leaders in reserve, as the currency for the finalpayment for the Grand Proclamation. It was, instead, the down payment,the first installment paid in advance by Israel, with no quid pro quowhatsoever.

* * * * *

The obsession with a proclamation was so thorough that Israel'sgovernments were willing to go well beyond the pretense thatPalestinians are a nation.

Successive Israeli governments abandoned all of the Gaza Strip, downto the last inch, to Hamas terrorists after expelling every single Jewliving there.

And, denials notwithstanding, a surprising number of Israelipoliticians are open to accepting at least in principle some sort ofPalestinian "right of return," quibbling only over the numbersinvolved. Meanwhile, Israel has repeatedly offered to grant thePalestinians the bulk of the West Bank - the term "bulk" usuallyranging anywhere from 90 to 100 percent of the land - in exchange fora Grand Proclamation.

Israeli politicians have also made it quite clear that they arewilling - as they were in Gaza - to expel most and perhaps all of theJewish "settlers" living in the West Bank as part of the deal. AndIsraeli leaders have refused to challenge the axiom that anyPalestinian state need be judenrein, containing no Jewish minority atall.

Challenging that notion would upset the grand strategy of ending theconflict via a Grand Proclamation. Why question the illogic of thosewho insist Arabs should have the right to live as a political minoritywithin Israel after a peace settlement is achieved - while no suchsettlement can be sought unless Jews are expelled from any futurestate of Palestine?

Even more incredible is the fact that Israel's pursuit of the GrandProclamation has been so obsessive that Israeli politicians haveexpressed a willingness to divide Jerusalem and grant control over theshrines of East Jerusalem to terrorists and their enablers.

Even the Likud has turned a blind eye to Palestinian encroachments inJerusalem, and, for a period of time, limited Jewish construction inJerusalem, signaling its openness to considering Arab claims to thecity as part of a deal. If the Likud has not yet gone on public recordwith an offer to abandon East Jerusalem, it is not because Likudleaders rule that out as a basis for a deal but rather because theyknow the Israeli public is not yet ready to accept that as the pricefor a proclamation.

The infatuation with the prospect of a grand End of ConflictProclamation was based on shaky foundations from the start. First, itwas not at all obvious that even if Israel were to strike a deal withthe Palestinians that would culminate in a proclamation, the MiddleEast conflict would really end.

It is true that Arab regimes had long based their hostility towardIsrael upon their supposed concern for the rights of the Palestinians.But if the basis for that pretense were really removed through a GrandProclamation, who is to say Arab leaders could not find some otherexcuse to take its place?

Hitler's Germany went to war supposedly out of concern for the"oppressed" ethnic German minorities in Czechoslovakia, Poland, andLithuania. But had the respective regimes managed to strike deals withtheir own ethnic German minorities, leading to End of Conflictproclamations by those Germans, does anyone seriously believe Hitlerwould have abandoned his plans to conquer Europe?

Similarly, what would stop the Arab world from finding a new causerequiring Israel's eradication?

But the more serious problem is that the grand fantasy of an End ofConflict Proclamation is totally unworkable because the Palestiniansunderstand perfectly well what Israel is up to. They know Israelistrategy makes them, the Palestinians, the brokers of the deal - thelynchpins, strategically the critical players, with veto power overthe entire situation.

Since Israel's approach to conflict resolution with the Palestiniansinvolves buying a Grand Proclamation at almost any cost, the cost willalways rise. If someone needed to buy a particular Chevy from a usedcar dealer no matter the sticker price, the price would be raisedwithout limit.

Knowing they have ultimate veto power over Israel's ability to buy aproclamation that supposedly would end the conflict with the rest ofthe Arab and Muslim world, the Palestinians have no motivation to sellthe Chevy. To the contrary, the rational strategy for them is just tolet the Israelis keep making higher and higher bids, especially whenthose bids involve growing down payments and up-front installments.

The problem is even more severe than that. The Palestinians understandthat delivering to Israel the Grand Proclamation it seeks would, forall intents and purposes, remove the Palestinians from world attentionand interest. In exchange for the deliverance, the citizens of a stateof Palestine would end up with a flea-bitten Third World impoverishedmini-state, ruled by a kleptocratic oppressive government and raked byinternal violence and barbarism.

Indeed, this clearly explains Palestinian strategy. Because Israel iswilling to make virtually any concessions short of outright instantself-annihilation, the only demands the Palestinians are willing toconsider as payment for the Grand Proclamation are those that wouldend Israel's existence - not instantly, of course, but over a periodof time.

Essentially, the Palestinians' position is that they are willing toissue that Grand Proclamation only on the condition that Israelultimately be governed by an Arab government; that Israel be floodedwith Arab "refugees" to create an Arab population majority; thatIsrael be stripped of any symbols suggesting Jewishness; and thatIsrael change its name to Palestine.

The "two states for two peoples" formula is part of this game ofpretense. It has long been the fundamental basis for seeking apeaceful resolution, but one accepted only by the Israeli government,not by the Arab world.

The Arab world is willing to consider the "two states for two peoples"formula only so long as neither of those two states is Israel and solong as neither of those two peoples is the Jews.

It is impossible to overstate the universal rejection by the entireArab world, including by Israel's own Arab population, of the veryidea of acknowledging the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state.

The Arabs will continue to reject that idea even if Israel withdrawsto its 1967 "Green Line" borders and turns East Jerusalem over to theArabs, and even if a Palestinian state (or perhaps two, one dominatedby Fatah and the other by Hamas) is formed in the West Bank and Gaza.

An Israeli politician with an ounce of common sense would understandthat the Arabs' refusal even to pay lip service to the legitimacy ofIsrael as a Jewish state nullifies the dubious promise of extracting agrand End of Conflict Proclamation from them.

The constitutional incapability of the Palestinians - and theirstring-pullers in the existing Arab states - to proclaim an end to theconflict with an Israel that is a Jewish Israel exposes such ahoped-for proclamation as nothing other than a dangerous, and quitepossibly suicidal, fantasy.

Dear Mr. Katsav,As I told you earlier, your goose was cooked from the beginning, sinceHebrew does not have a word for "is." I used that little word to getout of my impeachment. What a shame you couldn't have done likewise.This is one more example of how language helps form or structure aculture.Shalom Haver,President (ex) William J. Clinton

Monday, February 14, 2011

Hamas week at Sapir College in the Negev

1.You will be happy to hear that starting today, and for the next 4 days, Sapir College in Israel's Negev is to be converted into a massive lobby on behalf of the Hamas.Ironically, Sapir is located in the Negev town of Sderot, and has itself been hit by Hamas rockets.In fact, at least one Sapir students was killed by the barrages.

The initiative for this comes from a Sapir lecturer named Julia Chaitin.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

'Among the organizations raising the ire of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel are Zochrot ("Remembering" ), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. Zochrot is described on its website as "a group of Israeli citizens working to raise awareness of the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948."

'In a letter to Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee Chairman Zevulun Orlev, local government heads and Sapir College itself, the forum opposed a state-funded college holding "one-sided political conferences at the leftist edge of the Israeli ideological spectrum" without permitting the participation of "balancing figures."'

If you would like to tell the head of Sapir what you think of this, contact Prof. Uri Regev at fax 972-8-6899412

If you have an opinion about Sapir getting any Israeli taxpayer funding in the future, tell the Minister of Education, Gideon Saar, at fax 972 -2-5602246 and email sar@education.gov.il

The liberal Jewish establishment in the United States has been thunderously quiet about all this (while even Obama himself has denounced the Castros for holding Gross).The Washington Jewish Week is one of the few Jewish institutions that has been active in protesting the persecution of Gross.See http://washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=103